OKC City Councilman Ed Shadid
It came to light in the December 20th OKC city council meeting that OKC is giving $7,200,000 to Continental Resources, a huge company that does fracking in North Dakota, money that the city does not actually have.
The CEO of Continental Resources is from Enid, and is moving the corporate headquarters to the old Devon building.
“I am personally heart broken,” Councilman Ed Shadid stated. “We are borrowing $7.2 million to give for something that was going to happen anyway. I think that I am powerless to stop it.”
Shadid asked why we are giving $7.2 million to a thriving company that was going to move its headquarters to Oklahoma City anyway. He stated that this money is part of a bond issue which passed in 2007, during an ice storm. Shadid insinuated that the bond issue would probably not have passed had it not been for the ice storm.
Continental Resources is a multi-billion dollar company that is involved in a huge fracking operation in North Dakota. The oil shale in North Dakota is much larger than anyone ever imagined. Shadid stated that there are 24 billion barrels of oil. The size of the company is tripling every 3 years.
According to Ed Shadid, Continental Resources grew 40% in 2010.
“These jobs are going to be created anyway,” Shadid insisted.
The state is also giving economic incentives to Continental Resources.
Shadid stated that this economic incentive had nothing to do with this move from Enid to Oklahoma City.
“This $7.2 million is just a token,” he said.
Shadid further stated that OKC is giving more than we gave to Chesapeake or Boeing.
“Larger and larger incentives puts us in the race to the bottom,” the councilman asserted.
Shadid stated that the time to address this is a vote on the bond issue.
“I just don’t think that the majority of the public agrees,” Shadid continued. “You have to be a large company to get these incentives. In the future, the bond issue needs to be reworded so that small businesses are the focus.”
Shadid reminded the city council that small businesses employ 90% of the workers in Oklahoma.
To see the video of Shadid’s statement, go to the following site. Take the little green tab to the center and then pull is back 1/8 inch to see Shadid’s comments:
http://www.okc.gov/AgendaPub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=1322&doctype=AGENDA
